Burns
by AliceRulesMyWorld
Summary: Miley Stewart, the messed up foster kid is a shiner, an outcast, a trouble maker. Joe Gray is a football player, the model student. Can Joe, someone totally different, save Miley before she does something stupid? No lemons!
1. Chapter 1

**Burns**

JPOV

I couldn't understand why Miley was an outcast. She was smart and beautiful, if slightly…emo. Was it her being a foster child? That doesn't seem very fair. Her deep, deep eyes, eyes that you can see a soul through and her brown hair are…amazing. Lame word, I know. But it's the best I can do.

MPOV

I have twenty minutes before I have to leave for school. That should be plenty of time. I moved to my dresser and opened up the top drawer taking out the lighter my grandpa used to smoke with. I flicked it and was momentarily mesmerized by the flame, just like always. I ran it over my arm and exhaled. I ran into my bathroom to put on my make-up. Tons of eye liner and mascara are good for me. I don't do the black lipstick. It's too creepy. And that's coming from a shiner. I drove to school in my red '69 Chevy. It shouldn't work at this point, but I fixed up the engine—well my dad did while I watched. I jumped out of my truck and went to my first class. Before you ask, no, I didn't stop to talk to my friends. I don't have any. I sat down and pulled out my favorite book: Pride and Prejudice.

"Hi, freak." A voice said.

I think it was Amber so I replied in kind without looking up. "Hi, bitch. How's it going?"

She shrieked and stomped away, clearly not getting the reaction she was hoping for.

"Hey, Mile." Said Lily, one of my two friends.

"What goes on?" said the other, Oliver.

"Hey, Lils. And nothing but telling off some self-righteous bi…"

"Ms. Stewart," the teacher interrupted. I didn't realize the bell had rung. You would think I would have heard that. The bell is really very loud.

"Is that clear?" she finished.

"Umm…yes, ma'am." See, now, that was my Biology teacher. My biology teacher is a male.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, 'yes, man'."

"Uh-huh. Pay attention."

"Yes, man."

I didn't pay attention.

**Lunch**

"How was your second class?"

"I got kicked out, like usual." I shrugged. I'm not really the…model student, in my classes don't get me wrong, I'm an _A _student but I get kicked out of at least two classes of my four, usually; a couple of times each.

"Do you have something against Spanish in particular? Do you have something against the teacher?"

"She keeps telling me to wash my face off and that 'I need to see a counselor.' I have my own counselor."

"Yeah, and about that Miles…"

"Don't say it Lily." I gave her a stern look.

"But…"

"Lily." Oliver said to his girlfriend. "This isn't going anywhere."

"Thanks, Oliver." I said, sincerely.

"I didn't say I approved, Miles. Just that it's a lost cause." He clarified.

"And it is." I said, in a final tone. _So am I_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Jpov**

"Hey, Joe!" My brother, Nick, shouted as he ran to catch up with me.

"Hey, Nick." I answered absent-mindedly.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked confused.

"Nothing." I answered quickly.

"Riiight. I'm going to class." He looked me up and down with a raised eyebrow before leaving.

_Maybe I should just go talk to her, pretend I need help in Chem or something; she has an A in that class. She has an A in all her classes. I have a B- in Trig, maybe…No, no way would she help me. She _hates _me. What if I ask the teacher to set me up with a tutor? I've seen her grades in trig and she would definitely be assigned my tutor. She could always say no, though. They can't fail her for saying no. What if I offered to pay her to help me? No, that could seem like I feel bad for her because of her foster family. I'm just going to ask her outright. If she says no, she says no. Okay, here goes._

"Hi, Miley." I said, nervously.

"Can I help you, Joseph?"

"Shivers." I said, accompanied by a shiver. "I hate that name. Please, please call me Joe."

"Alright then, can I help you Joe?" She said correcting herself.

"Well, I'm barely pulling a B- in Trig right now and I was wondering…"

"If I would tutor you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let's see." She got a thoughtful expression on her face. "Would Spartan Time be enough time? Because the library is always open if it isn't."

"Spartan Time should work, I think."

"Great." She answered before leaving to join her friends.

**Mpov**

"I didn't just do that, Lils."

"What did you not do?"

"I _may _have…agreed to help Joe in Trigonometry." She said the last in a quick mumble.

"You _may _have?"

"I did."

"But, I thought…"

"I don't know what happened. He said he was barely pulling a B- and I have a 93% and I know he's trying for an Ivy League so he needs all A's and I…I felt like I had to help. Not in a way that I felt bad for him, but in a way that I felt as if I truly needed to help him, I mean _I_ needed to help him." Lily and Oliver shared a knowing look.

"What's that look for?"

"What?" Oliver asked.

"What?" Lily said.

"You know what." I said, confused.

"What?" Lily said again.

_What was that look?_

**Jpov**

I realized I had forgotten to tell Miley where to meet me during Spartan Time.

"Hey, Miley." I said grabbing her arm, letting go quickly when she yelped. _What the hell?_ "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered quickly. Too quickly.

"Are you sure because…"

"Joe, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern, honestly, but I'm okay." She said, plastering what was clearly a fake smile across her face before rushing away.

**Gym**

I just love gym, heavy, _heavy_, on the sarcasm . I got dressed and stepped out into the gymnasium, lining up for roll call.

"Today, you'll be playing tennis." I saw Miley's gorgeous blue eyes widen, not in an 'I fail at the sport way' but in an 'Oh, no' type of way. I stood behind Miley, who had been paired with me, while she grabbed her racket, and I saw a shiny mark that almost looked like a scar. She must've seen me looking because she quickly crossed her arms, afflicted arm hidden.

"You will have to swing that racket, and I'll be able to get a better look at that arm." I informed her with a very matter-of-fact tone.

"You'd be surprised." She smirked at me before pulling ten or so hair ties onto her arm over the scar like thing. "Surprise."

Miley was actually very good at tennis, as in, she kicked my ass at it. She did change, not that it mattered much. She had a black tank under her gym shirt which she had slashed, and sweats that looked like skinny jeans, almost. She looked as emo as she did before class, except she looked more…sexy now, if that makes sense.

Miley walked back out, dressed in her fishnet gloves, black cargo pants, the ones attached to suspenders and you wear the straps behind you and her black, what Kevin would call a 'boob' shirt. It also looked like she had reapplied eyeliner.

"See you in Spartan Time," She said, walking backwards before turning around on one foot and walking out.

Nope, equally sexy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just for the Record, Joe won't figure this out for a while. He's not ignorant, he wants to be oblivious to all this.**

"So you just do it like…this," I showed him on the calculator, "and voila." I finished grandly

"So I take the opposite and the adjacent like…this," he did the equation, "and I get the tangent?" he asked, catching on

"Exactly. Now just do the same equation but press this button before you press the tangent, and there's your cotangent." I explained with a smile of accomplishment on my face.

"I'll never remember that," he sighed in defeat.

"Don't be stupid. Of course you'll remember. Remember this: soh cah toa." I said, chant like.

"What a what what?"

"Write this down. S O H. Sine and opposite equal hypotenuse. C A H, cosine and adjacent equal hypotenuse, and T O A. Opposite and adjacent equal tangent. Why aren't you writing?" I scolded. He quickly scribbled it down before the bell rang.

"That's the bell. See you tomorrow."

"I'll figure you out Miley." He warned.

"Don't." I commanded.

"I want to." He argued.

"You SHOULDN'T!" I shouted back.

"I do a lot of things I shouldn't Miles." I wonder what he's talking abou...no, focus!

"Don't call me Miles." I said, narrowing my eyes.

"Consider it taboo. But it's still true."

"Joe…I _beg_ you, to let this drop."

"You're an enigma, Miley Stewart. I want to be the one that solves you. I'll see you tomorrow." With that he left me, shock written all over my face. That didn't just happen.

**Jpov**

With that, I left her with a smirk on my face. But my thoughts soon drifted back to the mystery that is Miley Stewart.

"Hey, Joe." There was a pause. "Joe. Joe! JOE!"

"What?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts.

"Dude, you're dazed." Nick said laughingly.

"I know." I answered.

"What are you high?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I don't do that stuff, dumbass. Damn Nick." I shook my head at him.

"I know you were busy thinking about something else." He hinted, trying to get me to tell him.

"Very astute." I said sarcastically.

"Very biting." He replied.

**Npov**

"So what were you thinking about?" I asked but his gaze was off somewhere else and he had disconnected with reality again, so I followed his stare. He was staring at…Miley Stewart? I guess she's hot in her own way.

"I understand the staring."

"Don't touch her."

"Well, _that_ got your attention didn't it?"

Wouldn't they be an interesting couple? There's only one way to find out, I guess...just wait.

Then again, I'm not a patient person.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hi, Miley," Joe greeted me as soon as I got to school; he was already there for morning practice for football. "I'm scared." He told me in a rushed voice, looking down. For a moment there I didn't know what he was talking about.

"For…" I prompted, with a confused expression on my face.

"The trig test is today." Now that I looked, his eyes were shining with nervousness, even his voice betrayed his anxiety.

"Joe," I began, putting a hand on his shoulder and immediately he visibly relaxed, "you'll be fine. It's just what we went over yesterday. Sohcahtoa. You can do this." I reassured him.

"You're right. I can." He answered with conviction.

I left Spanish and headed towards the commons for lunch. "Miley!" An excited Joe's voice hit me in the hallway. "I got an A." I gave him a congratulatory hug.

"I told you that you could do it!" I almost wondered if he was getting me to tutor him for the hell of it. I _did _know he could do it. But then, I thought, Joe was too honest to just have me tutor him just because; even if he wasn't someone I would generally hang out with, he was pretty cool and he genuinely wanted an A in trig.

**Jpov**

"Class." My teacher said before passing back the tests. "Most of you failed this test." I closed my eyes. I thought I had done well. I guess not. If it weren't for the tests I'd have an A in this stupid class.

"Amber, Ashley, Lily, Joe." She handed my paper back to me. I looked at my paper and saw that I had gotten a ninety two. I simply couldn't help myself. I shouted, 'Yes!' and jumped up and began to dance around.

"It's my first A of the semester, leave me alone." I explained to all the looks, half of which were incredulous and half of which were concerned, not that I blamed them, but I didn't care. I got an A!

"Miley!" I shouted after her down the hallway having left class, excited. "I got an A."

She gave me a congratulatory hug that I enjoyed a little too much, and I found myself wishing it was an affectionate hug. "I told you that you could do it!"

"Yeah, yeah, you win." We walked down the hall way a bit and we were joking around. She playfully hit my arm so I hit hers back; she yelped again. What is with her arm? I tried to pull up her sleeve, but she refused to let me look at it. "Miley, don't be ridiculous," I pled with her. "Just let me see it."

"Joe, no means no. Did your parents never teach you that?"

"Did your parents never teach _you_ to be polite?" Before I knew what had happened I felt stinging heat on my cheek. Well, damn. She slapped me. "I'm sorry." I apologized. "That was really low."

"Yeah, it bloody well was." She agreed angrily. She turned and continued towards the commons.

"Miley, come on. I'm sorry."

"I believe you, Joe, but…that was definitely a low blow. Even for a jock."

"Even for a jock? Well you're very civil for an _emo_."

She took a step toward me, narrowing her eyes.. "I will show you 'civil' you son of a…"

"Don't say it." I threatened taking another step toward her, narrowing my eyes in response.

"Or what?" she challenged moving even closer.

"Believe me, you don't even want to know."

"Either that," she said coming so close to me our chests were touching, "or you have no threat, because even _a jock_ wouldn't hit a girl."

She was right, so instead I grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her intensely. She kissed back for a moment, and then, I think, she realized what she was doing and stepped back.

**Npov**

"Hi, Miley," I greeted her.

"Is this The Jocks Will Annoy Miley Day or something?" she exclamied, rolling her eyes.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about Joe." I began.

"I'm just tutoring him. Get over it." She commanded, immediately going on the defensive.

"Neither one of you wants just tutoring." I informed her.

"Well, we're becoming friends, yeah."

"Neither of you want to be just friends, either."

"That's…ridiculous?" She said, intending to be firm and convincing but it came out as more of a question.

"Just friendship? That makes one of you."

"What do you mean?"

"Figure it out!" Idea planted.

"Mission accomplished?" Joe asked.

"Mission accomplished." I confirmed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5 That's what I should've said**

"No, Joe. That's _not_ how you do it." I stated exasperatedly

"But Mr. Spear said that…"

I interrupted him, "Before you tell me exactly what you told me _twenty effing seconds_ _ago, _try it my way. Just try." We spent another thirty minutes on the same problem, but finally he figured it out. That's the reason he has problems on tests, I think. He needs time—a _lot_ of time—to figure it out, but once he does he's unstoppable.

"I got it!" He said, excited.

"Finally," I muttered under my breath.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." I answered, probably unconvincingly.

"I just bet so." He said, suspiciously. I left it, because we still weren't on the best of terms.

**Jpov**

She decided not to answer, leaving it at what she had said, which I ignored; I was too excited to even worry about what she had said, so I just let it go.

"You know, I'm going to class, now." She decided.

"Kay, bye," I called, but I don't know if she heard me as she scurried away at Mach 2 with her hair on fire.

The rest of the day went by really slow. And by that I mean it lasted until my twenty first birthday. Yes, I know I'm older than your average senior but I got put in school late. At least not everyone knows about the whole twenty thing.

Miley brushed past me on her way out without even looking at me.

"Miley, I'm sorry. I like you a lot and I know we're different but I want to go out with you. I know I'm stupid, but I want to make it up to you. I think I possibly even love you."

At least, that's what I should've said.

I was walking home when my cell phone rang; it was a number I didn't recognize.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Is this Joe?" A voice said, choked with tears.

"It is."

"Miley was hit by a car. She told us to call all her friends. We thought you should know. It's not good Joe." I collapsed onto my knees. Why didn't I say it? I drove to the hospital fast enough for NASCAR. "Miley Stewart?" I asked the lady at the front desk.

"Room 204," she answered. I ran past all the other hallways and turned into her room right away. "You have to come back Miley. You've got to come back, because I'm falling in love with you.

At least, that's what I should've said.

Instead I said, "Hi."

I looked at her more carefully and saw the scars on her arms again, but couldn't quite make them out because of all the things that were attached to her. "She was in surgery all night," her foster brother, Trace, said, sounding choked up. "She's not good, man. She's on oxygen right now. She's comatose. Her lung collapsed. She might _die._ She's the closest thing I have to family and she's barely hanging on."

I was going to say something but apologies are better kept in situations like these. I wanted to show him I wanted to help. But apologizing? That's not how you do it.

"Are you okay, Joe?" Nick asked concernedly when I got home late that night.

"How would you be?" I spat.

"If what?" He asked.

"If the girl you could be in love with was comatose in the hospital, the same girl you had a stupid argument going on with, how would you be?"

"I would be sucky."

"So you see my point?"

"I do."

For the first time since I collapsed at my car, _I cried_.

Because of all the words I never should've said.

Because I _did_ say them.


	6. Chapter 6

**This is going to kind of be Joe hating himself and some of Miley's thoughts.**

**Jpov**

This is my fault. All I had to do was apologize and she'd have stayed a few minutes longer. All I had to do was swallow my stupid pride and say I'm sorry. And she might not have gotten hit by that stupid car. It's stupid.

And then those stupid people keep telling me it's not my stupid fault. It is. I know it even if they don't. Miley knows it, even if they don't.

**Mpov**

I hear everything around me and I wish I could respond to it, tell them it isn't their fault, just me being an idiot, letting my anger get the better of me and I got careless. I'm not breathing on my own right now. I might not wake up.

It would be easy. It would be simple, just like breathing. All I'd have to do is stop. I'd just have to stop trying, stop holding on. I've thought about this, so why am I fighting so hard?

Because it wasn't supposed to happen like this. It was supposed to say something. It was supposed to be a slap in the face. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, like what happens to everyone else. It wasn't supposed to be like _this_. It was supposed to be shocking. It was supposed to be a statement. That's how it was supposed to be.

That's how it can be, if I just keep fighting. I struggled to wake up. Because I wasn't going to die like this.

**Jpov**

Oh my g-d! She's waking up! "She's waking up!" I shouted, knowing her foster brother Trace was standing outside the door, working up the courage to come back in without crying.

"Oh my g-d," he said, crying despite his best efforts, which he eventually just abandoned.


	7. Chapter 7

**Jpov**

She's awake. She's awake!

"Miley?" I said.

"I want…Trace," she forced out. Because Trace was already in the room, I just left and went to get something to eat, respecting their privacy. However, a person can only wander around for so long, and what I heard when I got back surprised. They were speaking in hushed voices and they were very close together so it wasn't easy for me to hear. I kept hearing only snatches.

"…actually fought, Trace.

"What do you…"

"It wasn't…cle." What would that be miracle maybe?"

"…Then…wa…it?"

"A struggle…" Then he jumped at her and gave her a hug. At that point I chose to clunk my shoes and knock on the door. "Can I come in?"

**Mpov( Don't pretend you don't want to hear the conversation.)**

"Hey little sis," Trace said.

"Hey, Trace."

"I was scared Mile, real scared." He said, looking so vulnerable.

"I'm sorry." I apologized. I meant it.

"I wasn't looking for an apology." He shook his head.

"I know," I said softly, "but you deserve one."

"Promise never again." He spit into his hand. I spit into mine and we shook on it.

I paused for a moment. "I was just going to let go, you know. It would've been so simple."

"So why didn't you?" He asked confused.

"I don't know. It was like even if I _wanted_ to stop fighting…I _needed _to **keep** fighting. Does that make any sense at all?"

"It makes perfect sense. Who were you staying for?"

"You, of course! You are my _best friend. _You are _my brother._"

"I meant who else. You didn't stay for one person."

"Lily and Oliver. Then, there was someone else in the back of my head. I can't name the person now but…" I frowned, trying to recall the name or even the face.

"So what you're saying is you were really trying?"

"Yes. I completely and honestly had to. I actually fought, Trace."

"What do you mean by that, exactly? You had help right, a miracle."

"It wasn't a miracle."

"I ask again, 'Then what was it?"

"A struggle." He gave me a dive hug, something we had invented over the years, but I couldn't dive back. **(Artistic license)**

Which is when I heard clucking army boots and a knock on the door, "Can I come in?" Joe asked.

"No. You need to go work on your Poker Face," I said, observing the guilty look he was trying to conceal. Trying and failing to conceal, as it were.

"Oh, ahm…"

"How much did you hear?"

"Random words that made no sense to me is what I heard."

"Good," I proclaimed. "Now get your trig homework the hell over here." I said teasingly, to lighten the mood.

"Oh, right!"

He pulled up a chair on my other side since I insisted that Trace not leave. Working around the IVs and what not was more difficult than you might think it is. No, seriously, have you ever tried it? No, good, don't. "Let me get my assignment out and see how I did this." I said, leaning over to grab my bag so I could get the paper out. I scanned it quickly. "Right, so you take that number there which is the…?"

"Umm…thingamabob?"

"Read the vocab." I rolled my eyes.

While he did that I pondered an important question: Who was in the back of my mind?

"Miley…"

"Right. Sorry."

**Normal POV**

But she couldn't get that question out of her head.


	8. Chapter 8

**Mpov**

I was finally, finally released. And, _boy _had that week been hell without my lighter. Carefully, very carefully, I strode to my dresser and opened the top drawer. It creaked for a moment, and I froze in anticipation with a grimace on my face. But no one ever came, so I went back to what I was doing. I flicked it open and closed my eyes, tipping my head back to enjoy the burning sensation against my skin. I took a deep breath and closed my lighter, placing it back where I took it from.

So here's what I know. I didn't want to die like that, because it wouldn't be fair to me.

I still do want to die but there are four people holding me back.

The first is my brother, Trace.

The second is Lily, my best girl friend.

The third is Oliver, my best guy friend.

And the fourth, well the fourth is the person in the back of my head, a nameless invisible face. It haunts me. Plus the mystery pisses me off.

I toss and turn as I sleep.

_This is where it all leads, to the end, to my end. I step forward and I plan to jump off the cliff spread eagle when I hear a voice._

"_Don't jump." A voice pleads with me, the same one as the hospital._

"_Why?" I ask, wondering why the voice even cares, though I still don't turn and face the nameless voice._

"_Because the whole world doesn't hate you." He says, trying to reason with me._

"_Yeah, I have my brother and best friends. The _rest _of the world hates me."_

"_They're not it."_

"_Oh yeah?"_

"_Yeah!"_

"_Then name one other person that loves me." He hesitates ever so slightly. "You see?" I continue, "you can't." I spread my arms again._

"_Me!" I stop, confused._

"_You, what?"_

"_I love you."_

_I turn to see his face, but it's dark and he is wearing a hood. "Who are you?" I ask, head tilted slightly left. He begins to take his hood down._

"_I'm…"_

**You're gonna need a…**

I was about to find out who the voice was! Damnit…


	9. Chapter 9

I tried to not do it, you know, just to see what would happen. It felt almost as good as burning, the crying did. _Almost_. And it _almost_ made me want to stop. It _almost_ took over that part of my life. And I went a full week.

"Hey loser." Amber sneered.

"Hey wench." I replied, but I felt weaker, somehow, my reply was more…defensive, less nonchalant.

A full week pretending to be okay.

She glares at me during gym, because I'm partnered with Joe again. I'm starting to think he fixed it somehow.

"You'll be sorry, foster child."

I act strong, but that's what fuels the crying.

I tried to write but I found myself incapable of words.

I put the paper down on my nightstand. Then, I went and got my lighter. Maybe it'll be two weeks next time.

**I know it's short, but I did want to show you guys that she really **_**doesn't**_** want the lighter. She thinks she needs it.**


End file.
